Cheapest way to upgrade a 6 year old PC

imitation

MY parents venerable AMD x2 6000 is slowing dieing sadly after many years service, its giving an error x0000007f blue screen, which can be the memory/cpu/motherboard apparently. Memtest seems ok (although its failed me before) so I'm guessing its the CPU or motherboard.

The rest of the PC is in good in enough condition, the Graphics card is a 4670, not amazing but should suffice, so I'm looking for a Motherboard/CPU/Ram, I'm not above getting kit off ebay if the price is right, although I would like it reliable as nobody can moan about a broken computer like your parents. I'm thinking something that is a cut above a semperon/celeron, maybe an x4 or one of the newer APU chips ? Lets say 100-150 for a budget.

smellsfunny

Item|Price
Special item: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2, AMD 760G, mATX|€35.22
AMD Athlon II X4 641, 4x 2.80GHz, boxed, FM1|€60.62
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€19.94
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€33.36
Seagate Momentus Spinpoint M8 250GB, SATA II|€39.56
Super-Flower SF400Atlas 12CM 400W|€24.90
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€232.59

Just threw in a few extra parts. The 4670 would be grand. What power supply is in your current computer?

If your just looking for motherboard, processor and ram then upgrade the processor to a x4 955 or the cheapest new FX chip.

TerrorFirmer

Here's what I'd get for a 150 budget. Keep the 4670 as a spare, or sell it for a few quid - also assuming you can at least use the hard drive and dvd from your old machine. I know it says pounds, but that is in Euro. And should last any parent the best part of a decade. I genuinely think there's no real point going much better.

TerrorFirmer

Just realized I accidentally chose an ATX mobo there and an m-atx case - but you get the drift. If you're happy with the current case/psu anyway, then the board/cpu/ram fits into the 100 budget.

imitation

Thanks lads, I'm actually looking at amazon, my tightwad ways mean the 20 odd quid charged on shipping pushes up the overall price by a fair whack. I'm leaning towards the x4 640, seems to have a bit more welly than the lower end APU ones as I already have the graphics card.

Oh and yes, I have have fully functioning case, PSU, DVD and HDD.

smellsfunny

Any of the x4's would be grand

Monotype

smellsfunny wrote: »

Item|Price
Special item: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2, AMD 760G, mATX|€35.22
AMD Athlon II X4 641, 4x 2.80GHz, boxed, FM1|€60.62
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€19.94
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€33.36
Seagate Momentus Spinpoint M8 250GB, SATA II|€39.56
Super-Flower SF400Atlas 12CM 400W|€24.90
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€232.59

Incompatible CPU and motherboard. Second hand motherboard too. Could really do a better PSU as well.

How often does the PC give the errors described? It seems unlikely enough that the CPU would cause troubles as it tends to be one of the most robust components. I would suspect a corrupted install then maybe RAM or motherboard, but it could even be the PSU or hard drive. Maybe run a disc check on the hard drive.

If you're sure about upgrading
- is the case standard ATX - i.e., it isn't from a manufacturer such as Dell or HP which may use different layouts?
- the DVD drive is most likely IDE/PATA which is not in a good few motherboards, although many of the lower end boards would carry them
- HDD, same as the DVD drive.
- PSU: It might be worth your while investing in a new PSU. Efficiencies are much higher than they were 6 years ago. Also, the electricity supply is 'cleaner' from newer PSUs and will aid in making your components lasting longer. Assuming the one you buy is of good quality.

Finally, amazon.co.uk offers free shipping if you order from amazon.co.uk themselves and not a third party seller ("Fulfilled by..." is good too). The only problem is that their selection isn't great for complete builds.

Serephucus

Personally, I'd try and diagnose the problem part, and replace it, rather than upgrading. If you want to speed it up, chuck an SSD in. On modern machines they're fantastic. On older machines they're truly mind-blowing.

imitation

Serephucus wrote: »

Personally, I'd try and diagnose the problem part, and replace it, rather than upgrading. If you want to speed it up, chuck an SSD in. On modern machines they're fantastic. On older machines they're truly mind-blowing.

Odds are its CPU/Motherboard, if it is either then I reckon it won't be worth the hassle of doing anything other than replacing the lot, consider its about 100 euro to get an X4.

Serephucus

imitation wrote: »

Odds are its CPU/Motherboard, if it is either then I reckon it won't be worth the hassle of doing anything other than replacing the lot, consider its about 100 euro to get an X4.

Touché. In that case:

Item|Price
Intel Celeron Dual-Core G550 Box, LGA1155|€36.69
ASRock H61M-DGS, Sockel 1155, mATX|€38.84
4GB Corsair Valueselect DDR3-1333 CL9|€18.63
Corsair Builder Serie CX430 V3 Non-Modular 80+ Bronze, 430 Watt|€40.29
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€153.44

smellsfunny

Monotype wrote: »

Incompatible CPU and motherboard. Second hand motherboard too. Could really do a better PSU as well.

Opps